Sports

Pennsylvania High School Basketball Game Ends With All-Out Melee After Haymakers Spark Mayhem

by Last Updated
Meadville Uniontown High School basketball brawl fight
NFHS

Neither Meadville nor Uniontown has been declared as the winner of Friday’s high school basketball playoff game in the state of Pennsylvania. An ugly brawl amongst fans forced the highly-competitive matchup to come to an abrupt end during the fourth quarter.

As of this writing, the result is currently under review.

Meadville and Uniontown are separated by approximately 150 miles. The latter traveled north to the former on Friday for a first round high school basketball playoff game in the PIAA Class 5A division. However, they played only 28 minutes and 48 seconds. Officials called for an indefinite stoppage with three minutes and 12 seconds still on the clock because a full-blown melee broke out in the stands.

Uniontown trailed Meadville 49-31 early in the third quarter but the Red Raiders battled back from 18 down to pull within three of the Bulldogs with just over four minutes left in the fourth quarter. It was setting up to be an incredible finish down the stretch.

Unfortunately, poor fan behavior ruined what was shaping up to be an instant classic.

The multi-layered incident began with a questionable foul call. Uniontown guard Kelan Milsom was slapped with a technical on what appeared to be an innocent layup because officials ruled that he dunked the ball. He received his fifth foul and was relegated to the bench.

A small confrontation between players broke out near Meadville’s bench that was very quickly diffused as the Bulldogs went to the foul line but the same cannot be said for what happened next. Punches started flying in the stands. Players got involved with the violence. Fans stormed onto the court. Chaos ensued.

Here is a closer look from the local broadcast, which unintentionally featured the most appropriate presenting sponsors:

Officials were unable to get the gym back under control. Law enforcement removed multiple fans from the premises in handcuffs. The game did not continue.

Meadville was initially declared as the winner because of its eight-point lead at the stoppage. That result has since been reversed, for now. The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association decided to hold out for further review. There is a chance that both teams could be called back to the court — without fans — to finish out the final three minutes of the fourth quarter. It could be ruled as a no contest.

I have contacted the schools involved and have requested a report from them by Monday AM regarding last night’s incident.
I have no further comment until I receive their reports.
Thank you.

— PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi

Regardless of what the PIAA decides about Friday’s game, I would imagine that suspensions will be announced in coming days. All of the players who got involved with the brawl probably won’t be allowed to compete in the second round. Stay tuned.